There’s a lot about Air Force that stands out to TCU coach Gary Patterson.
With his team off before this Saturday’s regular-season finale with the Falcons, Patterson got a chance to watch Air Force play BYU. The Cougars won 38-24.
"They ran over 300 yards didn’t they?"
Patterson asked about Air Force. "They blocked them, they sacked. I think they had three sacks by halftime. I think us and Air Force are the only teams who’ve been able to do that [to BYU]."
The Falcons are fourth nationally in rushing offense, averaging 279.7 yards per game. TCU has the nation’s No. 1 rush defense, allowing 39.5 yards per game.
"The good thing for us is we run a lot of similar stuff to what they run,"
Patterson said. "They mix in the power game, with the triple option. It’s a combination of Wake Forest’s offense and the old Air Force offense. The key is if you want to just try to maintain, like a lot of people do, or stop them. The key for us is to try and stop them. It’s a very difficult thing to try and do."
Early signs
TCU players saw things that gave them a good feeling about this team early on in the year.
"We had a really solid group of seniors,"
defensive end Matt Panfil said. "I’m just one of many. We had such a good group of seniors. It’s funny. Sometimes we come in the huddle in the middle of the game and everybody’s yelling at everybody else, but everybody’s trying to be a leader. We just laugh at that sometimes."
Gary Patterson said this team has had "as good a chemistry as we ever had."
"That’s why we wanted that Utah game so bad,"
he said. "That’s why we’re going to try to win this Air Force game. This [senior] group’s got a chance to win 40 games. It’s just hard to do."
Final push
The Horned Frogs went through an extended Sunday practice, which was more like a Tuesday practice. Patterson said the team practiced hard all last week, adding he was pleased with the defense Sunday but probably not as happy with the offense.
"Nobody likes to be out practicing this late in the year,"
he said. "But good teams find a way to get through it."
Sweet 16
This is the third straight year that TCU has had a 16-day break following a Thursday game against Utah. TCU beat Army 31-17 in 2006 after the Utah game and beat New Mexico 37-0 last year.
